I’ve just returned from a beautiful morning chat on my friend Ben’s front porch. Ben’s 87 years old. As a solid member of that group known as the greatest generation, he fills the bill well. A southern boy born into hard work and low expectations, he went off to war as a young man in […]
Politics for Pilots
Welcome to the minority
When the topic of aviation comes up, it is almost a given that the conversation will come around to pilots. Even if the discussion isn’t about flying itself, the chatter still turns to pilots. Whether you’re interacting with an aviation-centric audience or a rabble that wants to shut down the local airport, the person most […]
The context of a Mann
On Friday, May 23, Hiram Mann was laid to rest. After 92 years his body had given all it had to give. He was my friend. I’m sorry to say I was not at the ceremony with his family, his illustrious peers, and others who witnessed a U.S Air Force honor guard attending to his interment. […]
When in doubt, panic
Last week news organizations gleefully trumpeted the near collision of two airliners. Their coverage was spotty at best, with few, if any, first hand accounts from anyone with actual knowledge of the event, other than the description of a passenger. Fortunately for editors and news producers who are too busy or disinterested to assign actual […]
Endings, beginnings, and opportunities
Regular readers of this column may notice a small change to the bio blurb that runs below. It’s shorter. The line about being the founder and president of the Polk Aviation Alliance has been removed, because although I remain the founder, I am no longer the president. I’ve resigned. My local newspaper, which seems to […]
Tell your story
Perhaps it has occurred to you. as it has to me, aviation attracts high achievers like a moth to a flame. Ours is not the domain of the weak or timid. Similarly it’s not an exclusive outpost for rich, old, white guys who split their time between the golf course, the yacht club, the airport, […]
With an atonal buzz and a tin ear we toddle onward
There is a story that circulates in the music business that suggests an interesting parallel to general aviation. The story takes place in the late 1960s when Jimi Hendrix and his band arrived at the BBC studios to do a soundcheck in preparation for a performance to be recorded later in the day. For those […]
What do we want?
There’s a great scene in the movie, “Field of Dreams,” that sticks in my head. Kevin Costner’s character has taken the character played by James Earl Jones to a baseball game. Kevin plays an innocent who has an unlikely story to tell and a major favor to ask. Jones, on the other hand ,plays a […]
There will be paperwork
After leaving a phone message and receiving the requested call-back from a fully qualified staff member, I was able to make an appointment to visit a critical government facility here in central Florida. On the appointed day I motored over to the semi-secret location and rode the elevator to the floor where I had been […]